U.S. Cable Companies Join For National WiFi Access

Five major American cable companies have joined forces to form Voltron. Wait, that’s not right. Let me try that again. Five major American cable companies have joined forces to offer cross-network WiFi access. Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable offer local WiFi hotspot access to its customers. Under this partnership, customers of one company will be able access the WiFi hotspots of the other companies using the same login information. Here’s a clip from the press release:

Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable today announce that they will enable each other’s high-speed Internet customers to access their metro WiFi networks, totaling over 50,000 hotspots. To simplify access, a new network name, “CableWiFi”, has been created for subscribers to use when accessing the WiFi hotspots outside their home market. The first implementation is already complete as Bright House Networks and Cablevision launched “CableWiFi” alongside their branded WiFi networks in the New York City area and central Florida earlier this month. Over the next few months, the “CableWiFi” network name will be added by each of the cable companies to their branded WiFi hotspots.

As a customer of (crap bag) Time Warner Cable, I’ve never found local hotspots useful. My LTE or HSPA+ connection is almost always better in Los Angeles. This roaming agreement is much more interesting. As a frequent traveler, having an extra dose of connectivity is a great thing. Part of me wants to fly to New York to test out this roaming agreement…and also see my parents and eat some real pizza.